Happiness (1998)
Comedy, Drama • 2h 19m
Director: Todd Solondz
Cast: Jane Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Dylan Baker, Lara Flynn Boyle, Cynthia Stevenson, Louise Lasser, Ben Gazzara, Camryn Manheim, Rufus Read, Jon Lovitz, Jared Harris, Gerry Becker, Elizabeth Ashley, Justin Elvin, Lila Glantzman-Leib, Arthur J. Nascarella, Molly Shannon, Ann Harada, Douglas McGrath, Eric Marcus, Eytan Mirsky, Lisa Louise Langford, Anne Bobby, Socorro Santiago, Allison Furman, Wai Ching Ho, Bina Sharif, Tsepo Mokone, Dan Moran, Evan Silverberg, Marla Maples, Hope Pomerance, Matt Malloy, Dan Tedlie, Marina Gayzidorskaya, Johann Carlo, Joe Lisi, José Rabelo, Diane Tyler, Olga Stepanova, Todd Solondz
Best English-friendly release · updated 9 months ago
UHD tiers
Overview
The lives of several individuals intertwine as they go about their lives in their own unique ways, engaging in acts which society as a whole might find disturbing in a desperate search for human connection.
Director: Todd Solondz
Solid upgrade and the increase in resolution works well with the 16mm source in making it appear a bit more film-like than the Blu-ray, which is obviously very good as well
Director: Joachim Trier
MUBI 4K Blu-ray has zero extras
Directors: Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie
4K encode is low-pass filtered and noticeably so, which was unfortunately par for the course with Criterion 4Ks until sometime in 2024, and the encode is still less than ideal even despite that. Still better than the Criterion and Lionsgate Blu-Ray discs for the Dolby Vision grading alone.
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Eureka UK is considering doing a 4K https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24363810&postcount=264
Wonderful underlying remaster by Criterion and Resillion, but NexSpec encode has clipped highlights with the occasional blockiness. The Criterion Blu-Ray, sourced from their 4K remaster, ironically makes for a more consistent and overall pleasing experience.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab) · blah-ray.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab)
StudioCanal 4K
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Video format: HD Streaming
More Comedy on Blu-ray
Director: Paul Leni
Theatrical/Original A negative: MoC Blu-ray
European C/D negative but better picture quality: Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
From DVDBeaver: The MoC Blu-ray is scanned from the American A negative, as opposed to the European C or D negatives used by Photoplay and others (Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray), so it is identical with the film US audiences saw in 1927
See caps for comparison
In addition, the Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has sepia tinting throughout while the MoC Blu-ray has yellow for normal scenes, blue for night scenes, and some even green tintings.
Director: Preston Sturges
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
No information on French Elephant Films Blu-ray
Director: Jamie Babbit
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray is a disaster. The compression on the base layer is horrid, and the oversized 18 Mbps FEL barely helps.
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray includes original matrixed Dolby Stereo mix, albeit lossy, and a 5.1 surround upmix. The stereo track on previous BD and DVD releases is also lossy and sounds about the same.
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Gaumont Blu-ray but no English subtitles: https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Deux-sous-de-violettes-Blu-ray/288976/
Director: René Clair
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
Director: Charlie Chaplin
1928 version: Image Entertainment DVD
Sources: DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab) · caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
1969 version: Criterion Blu-ray > UK Artificial Eye Blu-ray, see DVDBeaver caps.
Japan Kadokawa Blu-ray is the same as AE BD and inferior to Criterion too
Director: Frank Oz
Theatrical Cut: Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray
Director's Cut: Warner Bros Blu-ray
The 4K Blu-ray has both a poor Dolby Atmos remix and the original theatrical Dolby Stereo mix in its best fidelity but only for the Theatrical Cut.
The Blu-ray has a 5.1 remix for the Director's Cut that, while inferior to the original theatrical Dolby Stereo mix, is still far superior to the Dolby Atmos remix on the 4K Blu-ray, and is the best option for the Director's Cut.
Only the DVD has the isolated score.
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